South Africa launches 'groundbreaking Aids campaign'

A "revolution" in South Africa's response to HIV/Aids will unfold next month as the largest-ever testing and counselling campaign kicks off, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said on Thursday, 25 March 2010. Read more >>

Circumcision can protect from HIV transmission: Reports from Zimbabwe

[Dr. Ananya Mandal, MD] Nearly 1.1 million people in Zimbabwe are HIV positive with 40% unaware of their status. 160&nbps;000 children are infected with counts rising by 17,000 yearly. Total HIV prevalence rate for Zimbabwe is 13.7%. There are 2,000 HIV related deaths in Zimbabwe every week. 25% of children in Zimbabwe are orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS related deaths according to UN agency reports. Read more >>

UCSF Study: HIV prevention services in clinical settings reduces risk behaviours

UCSF researchers have shown that delivering HIV prevention services to people living with HIV in clinical settings can sharply reduce their sexual risk behaviours. Read more >>

MedFM to turn off its broadcast for Earth Hour

On 27 March 2010 at 20:30 104.1 MedFM, one of South Africa's leading health and wellness radio stations, will have no broadcast for one hour. Read more >>

The importance of promoting human rights to young people...

Basic nutrition and health care, shelter, and social services are some of the basic rights of children, enshrined in the South African Constitution (Section 28, Bill of Rights)...but how many young South Africans are actually aware of their rights? Read more >>

Shoprite soup trucks roll out again

The Shoprite soup truck programme will continue its national feeding programme in 2010. It has two mobile soup kitchens in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal and one in each of the rest of the provinces. It helps improve the nutritional status of people, especially children and senior citizens, as well as the thousands of people affected by job losses. Read more >>

Chest x-rays may help identify high-risk H1N1 patients

A new study published in the April issue of Radiology suggests that chest x-rays may play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of H1N1 influenza by predicting which patients are likely to become sicker. Read more >>

How does a heart know when it's big enough?

A protein discovered in fruit fly eyes has brought a Johns Hopkins team closer to understanding how the human heart and other organs automatically ‘right size' themselves, a piece of information that may hold clues to controlling cancer. Read more >>

Research could pave way for new generation of painkillers

Research at the University of Leeds could pave the way to a new generation of painkillers by providing a new theory of how inflammation causes pain. Read more >>

Infertile men are at greater risk for developing prostate cancer: Study

Infertile men are at nearly three times greater risk for developing clinically significant prostate cancer than the average man according to a new study published in the journal, Cancer. Read more >>

Walnuts affect genes related to prostate tumour growth: Study

UC Davis research shows walnuts affect genes related to tumour growth Walnut consumption slows the growth of prostate cancer in mice and has beneficial effects on multiple genes related to the control of tumour growth and metabolism, UC Davis and the US Department of Agriculture Western Regional Research Centre in Albany, California have found. Read more >>

When your back can be such a pain…

Did you know that work-related lower back disorders will affect between 60 and 90% of people during their working lives (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work)? Read more >>

Words play an important role in infants' cognition

Northwestern University researchers have found that even before infants begin to speak, words play an important role in their cognition. For three-month-old infants, words influence performance in a cognitive task in a way that goes beyond the influence of other kinds of sounds, including musical tones. Read more >>

You and your baby may need Vitamin D supplementation says research

[Dr. Ananya Mandal, MD] This report appeared in the respected journal Paediatrics this week. There has been growing awareness regarding deficiency of Vitamin D in children and adults. This vitamin is important for healthy bones, immunity and other bodily processes. In children, inadequacy of this vitamin in diet may lead to bone damage, rickets, repeated infections and heart disease in later life. Read more >>

Dipstick diagnosis for under-reported diseases

Millions of people in tropical climates are at risk of picking up deadly parasites, but accurate diagnosis is almost impossible in the locations where they strike: remote areas with no microscopes or health workers. Read more >>

Smoking scenes in movies prompt young adult smokers to smoke immediately

A new and groundbreaking study to be published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine next week shows that young adult smokers will light up immediately after watching smoking in movies. The study is the first of its kind to link smoking scenes in movies directly to actual and immediate smoking behaviour. Read more >>

New study investigates effects of influenza among pregnant women

This spring, pregnant women in Bergen and Oslo will be invited to take part in the Norwegian Influenza Study (NorFlu). The aim is to find out how influenza in pregnancy affects maternal health and childhood development. NorFlu will also study any implications of vaccination during pregnancy. Read more >>